Description

In this letter, University of Richmond President George Modlin wrote to Virginia Governor Lindwood Holton on October 8, 1970. Modlin wrote as a follow up to a telephone conversation the two had had earlier in the week in regards to the relationship between the university and the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW) Office of Civil Rights. Modlin shared all the correspondence the university had shared with HEW. Modlin stated that the "University has cooperated in good faith and has complied with all recommendations of that Office until the receipt of the recent letter which became public a few days ago." On October 5, 1970, the Richmond Times-Dispatch had published an article in regards to a letter from Dr. Eloise Severinson, Regional Director for HEW's Office of Civil Rights (available here). On October 7, 1970, President Modlin wrote to Dr. Severinson about the issues he believed the publication of this letter would cause the university (available here).

Modlin concludes this correspondence to the governor by stating: "The degree of interference by the Office for Civil Rights into the academic and administrative affairs of our Virginia instituions of higher education, both public and private, is greatly disturbing." Dr. Severinson's original communication included suggestions for how the University of Richmond could better comply with the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

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Modlin, George Matthews, 1903-1998, “Letter from George M. Modlin to Linwood Holton,” Race & Racism at the University of Richmond, accessed February 22, 2019, http://memory.richmond.edu/items/show/2901.